Oil scoop duct for rotatable troughed oil pumping drum

ABSTRACT

A scoop duct for a rotatable troughed oil pumping drum is comprised of a first curved scoop member extending at one end towards the top of the drum in close proximity and substantially tangent to the upper position of the internal floor surface of the trough of the drum in a direction against the direction of rotation of the drum and curved downwards to extend at its other end towards the axis of the drum. The duct further includes an oil distribution member having a surface curving from the other end of the scoop member to incline in the direction of the rotatable axis of the drum towards a bearing lubrication oil port. The mating surfaces at each end of the scoop duct are substantially tangent to the adjacent curved surfaces so that substantially continuous curved surfaces lead to and from the scoop and the oil is scooped and distributed from the drum with a minimum of agitation and aeration.

United States Patent [151 3,635,31 1 Kaufman 1 Jan. 118, 1972 [541 OILSCOOP DUCT FOR ROTATABLE 3,098,683 7/1963 I Jemberg ..308/245 x TR U HED01L U IN DRUM 3,515,246 6/1970 l-laight et a1. ..1s4/11 [72] Inventor:Howard N. Kaufman, Monroeville, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

[22] Filed: Mar. 25, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 22,565

[52] U.S. Cl. ..l84/l1 A, 184/13 R, 308/127 [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6n 7/l6[58] Field ofSearch ..184/1 1, 11 A, 13; 308/128, 308/245, 127

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,943,517 7/1960 Markley etal ..184/11 X 3,065,822 11/1962 McAfee 3,476,452 11/1969 l-lagg et a13,441,106 4/1969 Taylor et al...

3,162,269 12/1964 Reed ..184/13 X Primary ExaminerManuel A. AntonakasAttorney-F. H. Henson and F. E. Blake [57] ABSTRACT A scoop duct for arotatable troughed oil pumping drum is comprised of a first curved scoopmember extending at one end towards the top of the drum in closeproximity and substantially tangent to the upper position of theinternal floor surface of the trough of the drum in a direction againstthe direction of rotation of the drum and curved downwards to extend atits other end towards the axis of the drum. The duct further includes anoil distribution member having a surface curving from the other end ofthe scoop member to incline in the direction of the rotatable axis ofthe drum towards a bearing lubrication oil port. The mating surfaces ateach end of the scoop duct are substantially tangent to the adjacentcurved surfaces so that substantially continuous curved surfaces lead toand from the scoop and theoil is scooped and distributed from the drumwith a minimum of agitation and aeration.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEU M1 M72 FIG.

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RN .n uA W U V M N D R A W O H BY W /M ATTORNEY OIL SCOOP DUCT FORROTATABLE TROUGHED OIL PUMPING DRUM CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED PATENTAPPLICATIONS So far as is known, this invention is not related to anycopending U.S. patent applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Self-lubricating bearings having rotatableoil-pumping drums for circulating the lubrication oil are well known andreference may be made to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,452 issued to Arthur C.Bag and Joseph H. Hoffman on Nov. 4, 1969, for an example of such abearing construction to which the oil scoop duct of this invention maybe applied. It has been found that when the bearing to be lubricated isoperating under conditions of high temperature and/or high rotationalshaft speed, the lubricating oil, to be most effective, must be free ofbubbles or aeration as may be caused when the oil is agitated.Therefore, a scoop duct for scooping and distributing the oil from arotatable oil-pumping drum should feed the oil smoothly and withoutagitation or aeration into the bearing lubrication ports.

PRIOR ART In addition to the aforementioned patent, the following listedU.S. patents show prior forms of scoop duct arrangements that however donot disclose the interrelated curved surfaces of the scoop duct anddistributing member as provided in the manner of the present invention:

|,921.339 Bary Aug. 8, I933 155,747 Overblgh Oct. 6, 1874 SUMMARY Inaccordance with the present invention, an oil scoop duct for a rotatabletroughed oil-pumping drum is comprised of at least one curved scoopmember and one curved oil-distributing member with the mating surfacesat one end of the scoop duct being substantially tangent to the adjacentinternal floor surface of the trough drum in its upper position and themating surfaces at the other end of the scoop being substantiallytangent to the curved distributing surface. Thescoop duct is curved toextend at said one end in a direction against the direction of rotationof the oil-pumping drum and curves downward at its other end to extendtowards the axis of the drum. The oil-distributing member is curved toextend from the other end of the scoop duct to incline downwards in thedirection of the axis of the drum towards suitable oil-distributionports of the bearing to be lubricated in which is joumaled the rotatableshaft on which the pumping drum is mounted for rotation therewith. Inone embodiment of the invention, two curved scoop ducts that arerespectively curvedto extend in opposite directions are provided so thatthe oil pumping and distribution will be effective for either directionof rotation of the shaft and pumping drum.

Further details of the invention will be apparent with reference to thefollowing specification and drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a sectional view of thebearing and scoop duct arrangement of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the scoop duct lookinginto the direction of the inclined oil distributing surface membertowards the curved scoop ducts;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a detailed sectional view of one of the curved scoop ducts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 of thedrawings, a bearing for which the oil-pumping drum and scoop duct of theinvention may be used will be briefly described. If a detailedunderstanding and description of the bearing shown in FIG. I is desired,reference should be made to the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,452.The bearing is shown to include a casing 10 having a sump 11 in which aquantity of oil is maintained at all times during operation of thebearing. A rotatable shaft 12 is journaled on sleeve bearing surfacessuch as shown at 13-15 and oil is continuously pumped to be distributedthrough suitable bearing lubrication ports such as shown at 16 and 17 aswill be obvious to those skilled in the art. The oil passing through thelubrication ports 16 and 17 is distributed to the requisite bearingsurfaces and subsequently is drained through to accumulate in the sump11 of the bearing casing 10.

In order to pump the oil from the sump 11 continuously as the shafi 12rotates for distribution to the bearing lubrication ports such as theport 16, a rotatable oil-pumping drum 20 is secured by the hub 21 to theshaft 12 for rotation therewith. The pumping drum 20 is provided with aperipheral trough having an internal trough floor surface 22 togetherwith trough sidewall surfaces 23 and 24. As the troughed pumping drum 20is rotated, oil within the sump 11 is picked up by the internal troughfloor surface 22 of the pumping drum and is carried therewith bycentrifugal force and the natural tendency of the oil to cling to asurface as the pumping drum 20 rotates to bring the internal troughfloor surface 22 from a lower position to an upper position. Assumingthe shaft 12 to be rotating at sufficient speed, with the pumping drum20 rotating therewith, a requisite quantity of oil will be picked upfrom the sump l1 and carried by the floor surface 22 to an upperposition where it may be scooped ofi by the scoop duct 25 or 26 to bedeposited on the inclined curved surface 31 of the oil-distributingmember.

As shown more clearly by FIG. 2 of the drawing a curved scoop member 25or 26 is curved to extend with one end such as shown at 27 or 28 to besubstantially tangent to the curved surface of the internal trough floorsurface 22 in its upper position. Each curved scoop curves downwardly toextend at its other end 29 or 30 towards the axis of the pumping drum 20and shaft 12. Considering the curved scoop duct 25 now being describedin detail, it will be noticed that the one end 27 extends in a directionagainst the counterclockwise direction of rotation of the drum 20 and istherefore effective to scoop oil from the upper floor surface of thetrough of the pumping drum when the drum and shaft are rotating in acounterclockwise direction. On the other hand, the scoop duct 26 whichis to be effective for clockwise rotation of the pumping drum 20 andshaft 12 is curved to have its one end 28 extending against thedirection of the clockwise rotation of the upper floor surface 22 of thetrough of the pumping drum 20. Thus, if the scoop duct arrangement ofthe invention is intended to function for either direction of rotationof the shaft 12 and pumping drum 20, then both curved scoop ducts 25 and26 would be provided although the invention is not limited to anarrangement having both ducts 25 and 26. The other end of each curvedscoop duct 25 or 26 which is shown respectively at 29 and 30 is curveddownwards to extend towards the axis of rotation of the pumping drum 20and shaft 12.

As is more clearly shown by FIGS 1 and 3 of the drawings, theoil-distributing member 35 is provided with a surface curving at itsupper end 36 to incline downwardly in the direction of the axis ofrotation of the shaft 12 for distributing oil conveyed thereto by eitherof the scoop ducts 25 and 26 to the bearing distribution port 16. It isa particular feature of the invention that the mating surfaces at therespective ends 29 and 30 of the scoop ducts 25 and 26 are substantiallytangent with the upper curved surface 36 of the oil-distributing member31. Thus, oil that is scooped by the scoop duct 25 or 26 is depositedsmoothly upon the oil-distributing member 31 and flows with a minimum ofagitation and consequent aeration of the oil towards theoil-distributing port 16.

As more clearly shown by FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing each of the curvedscoop members 25 and 26 is in the form having an inverted channel crosssection which preferably is semicircular although other cross-sectionalchannel forms may be used. Also, the upper end of each curved scoopmember such as the end 27 for the curved scoop duct 25 may be formedwith a knife edge to provide a suitable scraping and shearing action forscooping the oil from the floor surface of the trough of the pumpingdrum in its upper position.

As shown more clearly by FIG. 2 of the drawings, the oildistributingmember 31 is provided with sidewalls 40 and 41 and is of a width tosubstantially fill the space between the trough walls of the pumpingdrumarea into which it extends. Thus, the width of the oil-distributingmember 31 may be said to extend substantially from wall to wall near thetop of the troughed rotatable oil-pumping drum 20. This is anadvantageous feature considering that when shaft 12 is first starting torotate and the pumping drum 20 consequently is not being rotated at avery high speed, oil carried by the floor 22 of the pumping trough maynot cling to the floor for sufficient distance to be engaged by thescoop ends 27 and 28 of the curved scoop members and 26. In such casehowever, the oil may drop from the floor of the pumping trough upon thefloor of oil-distributing member 31 before reaching the scraping ends 27and 28 of the scoop 25 and 26. Thus distribution of some lubricating oilwould still be obtained even for low speed rotations of the shaft 12.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. in combination with a rotatable troughed oil-pumping drum for aself-lubricating bearing, the oil scoop duct arrangement comprising, anoil duct extending from within the drum to a bearing lubrication oilport, said duct having a first curved scoop member extending towards thetop of the drum at one end in close proximity and substantially tangentto the internal floor of the troughed surface of the drum in a directionagainst the direction of rotation of the drum, said first scoop membercurving downwards at its other end towards the axisof the drum, saidduct further having an oil-distributing member with a surface curvingfrom the other end of said first scoop member to incline towards thebearing in alignment with the axis of rotation of the drum to therebyscoop and distribute the oil from the drum to the bearing with a minimumof oil agitation and aeration, said curved scoop surface having aninverted channel shaped cross section with the base of the channel atits one end being closely adjacent the inner floor surface of the troughof the drum.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the mating surfaces at each end ofthe scoop duct are substantially tangent to the curved surfaces leadingto and from.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the oil-distributing member has awidth transverse to the axis of rotation of said drum sufficient toextend substantially from wall to wall near the top of the trougheddrum.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the channel shaped cross section issemicircular.

5. The invention of claim 1 wherein said first scoop member is extendingat its one end in a direction against a first direction of rotation ofthe drum and there is provided a second curved scoop member adjacentsaid first scoop member to extend at one end in close proximity to theupper internal trough floor surface of the drum in a direction against asecond direction of rotation of the drum, said second scoop membercurving downwards at its other end towards the axis of the drum adjacentthe other end of said first scoop member to thereby enable pumping anddistribution of oil by either direction of rotation of the drum.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein the mating surfaces of the ends ofsaid first and second scoop ducts and the oil-distributing member aresubstantially tangent to the curved surfaces leading to and from.

7. The invention of claim 5 wherein the first and second scoops haveinverted channel shaped cross sections.

1. In combination with a rotatable troughed oil-pumping drum for aself-lubricating bearing, the oil scoop duct arrangement comprising, anoil duct extending from within the drum to a bearing lubrication oilport, said duct having a first curved scoop member extending towards thetop of the drum at one end in close proximity and substantially tangentto the internal floor of the troughed surface of the drum in a directionagainst the direction of rotation of the drum, said first scoop membercurving downwards at its other end towards the axis of the drum, saidduct further having an oil-distributing member with a surface curvingfrom the other end of said first scoop member to incline towards thebearing in alignment with the axis of rotation of the drum to therebyscoop and distribute the oil from the drum to the bearing with a minimumof oil agitation and aeration, said curved scoop surface having aninverted channel shaped cross section with the base of the channel atits one end being closely adjacent the inner floor surface of the troughof the drum.
 2. The invention of claiM 1 wherein the mating surfaces ateach end of the scoop duct are substantially tangent to the curvedsurfaces leading to and from.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein theoil-distributing member has a width transverse to the axis of rotationof said drum sufficient to extend substantially from wall to wall nearthe top of the troughed drum.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein thechannel shaped cross section is semicircular.
 5. The invention of claim1 wherein said first scoop member is extending at its one end in adirection against a first direction of rotation of the drum and there isprovided a second curved scoop member adjacent said first scoop memberto extend at one end in close proximity to the upper internal troughfloor surface of the drum in a direction against a second direction ofrotation of the drum, said second scoop member curving downwards at itsother end towards the axis of the drum adjacent the other end of saidfirst scoop member to thereby enable pumping and distribution of oil byeither direction of rotation of the drum.
 6. The invention of claim 5wherein the mating surfaces of the ends of said first and second scoopducts and the oil-distributing member are substantially tangent to thecurved surfaces leading to and from.
 7. The invention of claim 5 whereinthe first and second scoops have inverted channel shaped cross sections.